Syria Conflict and Refugees

At our group meeting on 21^st February, we collectively signed three letters on issues relating to the Syria conflict and refugees. We have had a response from the Foreign Office to our letter calling on the Government to put direct pressure on the Syrian Government to grant access to independent international monitors to inspect Saydnaya Military Prison and other places of detention in Syria, following Amnesty’s report on atrocities there, and to lobby for these atrocities to be addressed fully at the UN. While the response makes clear the UK is active on this issue in the UN, it does not address our call for the Government to bring pressure to bear directly on the Syrian Government.

We have not had a response from President Assad to our letter on the subject of Amnesty’s report.

The Home Office has responded to our letter in protest at the closing of the Dubs Scheme after only 350 of the expected 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees were brought over from Europe. While the letter lists many good things the British Government is doing, it does not explain the Government’s decision not to meet the original expectation that 3,000 unaccompanied children would be brought to the UK on top of other commitments, and does not acknowledge that many children were expecting to be accepted and were personally let down, and that large numbers of children have gone missing since the destruction of the Calais camp.